Damn, @miceblue, now I'm confused :/
I was ready to order the X5, but the sound description got me worried a lot as I'm pretty sensitive to harsh upper range.
Well, I guess my prehistoric H320 is still the best player for me...

Pretty well written review overall, though there were quite a bit calligraphy and/or formatting errors, nothing really major but still able to throw me of a few times.

Sure it's supposed to be an honest review but is it fair to judge a player to be lacking just based on miss matched sonic signatures? I am fully aware of that some pieces of gear do not match sonically, though i do not think that one shouldn't judge a piece of equipment over the other just because they don't match sonically. I would say to judge the product(Multiplication) and not the factors.

Umm, he used multiple ear/headphones. There's plenty of VG reviews here and no one complained that they only used 'compatible' phones. Seems that this only happens when one would prefer a different outcome. Take his review and my similar comments (with a completely different set of phones) regarding that slight hardness and added warmth with a grain of salt. Try one for yourself when you can. It's certainly worth a listen.

Seems like he wrote what he thought. Honest. Not every review needs to be glowing.

I'm not so sure there were calligraphy errors though? How is that possible. LOL

I think the original poster meant that I wrote in an artsy way, not necessarily beautiful handwriting in a literal sense.

I did read the posts that were deleted. XD
I wrote my review in a way that pointed out both objective things and my own personal experiences with the unit. I could have left out the calligraphy-like writing and listed only facts (my usual reviews are more straightforward), but I felt that it didn't reflect my frustrations or personal experiences.

While I do think there is a lot of hype behind the X5, I had absolutely no intentions to write my review in a way to "rebel" against the hype, if you will. I was just posting my honest experiences even though I'm sure some, or perhaps many, people may not agree with what I experienced.

Now instead of starting a flame war, or play the pointing game, maybe it would be better if people can suggest ways to improve both my, and others', reviews.

Yes, there's a plastic cover over it and yes there are air bubbles under it. The plastic cover tends to stick to the wheel, which is what those darker areas are.

Nice write-up tho the X5 seems not your cup of tea. I wish James/Joe would let me have a listen only if a formal review is not required (but I promise to give honest opinions).

Yeah that ipod click wheel looks distorted due to the air bubbles. Off topic and FYI, you can now upgrade your ipod video to a 480GB mSATA SSD drive using a Rockbox firmware patch provided by @beyondwind, if you care about the big storage. The Apple's OF won't work due to heat issue and UI instability.

Damn, @miceblue, now I'm confused :/
I was ready to order the X5, but the sound description got me worried a lot as I'm pretty sensitive to harsh upper range.
Well, I guess my prehistoric H320 is still the best player for me...

I really would not base my purchase decision on one review, there are multiple other reviews that say the X5 has wonderful sound quality. I would give it a listen yourself with your cans and see if it is right for you.

Take his review and my similar comments (with a completely different set of phones) regarding that slight hardness and added warmth with a grain of salt. Try one for yourself when you can. It's certainly worth a listen.

And mine, too. My experiences were similar to yours and to those of miceblue. I didn't find the X5 particularly fatiguing--certainly not compared to my Clip+--but I found it generally lacking in fidelity.

I have the ODAC/O2 and I did a comparison with the X5. For portable use, yeah the X5 would be better, but the ODAC/O2 sound way more transparent to me. The X5 sounds coloured in a direct comparison: more bass, slight treble roll-off, funky upper-midrange/lower treble thingamabob, narrow soundstage.

Sorry for my late response, it's carneval here in Cologne, thats too much alcohol in the last days

Also thanks for your impressions, with the performance of the O2 I can't go wrong, so I will buy it as my home rig.

But will also keep an eye on the X5 and DX90.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Negakinu

I've got an O2/ODAC setup and will compare it to the X5 in my review. :) There's still a little time to cram that bit in there I think. Didn't even think of comparing them...

I'm going to keep mine brief - I don't see the point in writing another extensive review - I think you and Barra have covered pretty much all the bases with the X5.

I find long winded reviews tend to bore readers in most cases, there's a high possibility they'll stop reading. Often if someones been researching a product already they scroll straight to the sound section anyway of further reviews. I try to create a balance so readers can focus on what's most important without losing their attention. Many mainstream reviews don't go in-depth about sound characteristics, (especially DAPs) so I tried to focus there. I actually found the sound descriptions easier than the UI, design and features. I think, just do what you like doing, make the review express a part of you, not come out like some factory programmed robot.

I find long winded reviews tend to bore readers in most cases, there's a high possibility they'll stop reading. Often if someones been researching a product already they scroll straight to the sound section anyway of further reviews. I try to create a balance so readers can focus on what's most important without losing their attention. Many mainstream reviews don't go in-depth about sound characteristics, (especially DAPs) so I tried to focus there. I actually found the sound descriptions easier than the UI, design and features. I think, just do what you like doing, make the review express a part of you, not come out like some factory programmed robot.